—The SEC has announced plans to launch Project Crypto, an initiative to modernize securities rules and regulations to allow for crypto-based trading, as reported by CNBC.
At the America First Policy Institute in Washington, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said: ‘I look forward to working with my counterparts across the administration to make the United States the crypto capital of the world’ adding that ‘this represents more than a regulatory shift—it is a generational opportunity’.
The announcement comes following a surge of investor interest in tokenization, with BlackRockCEO Larry Fink saying that he sees the‘tokenization of every financial asset’as a crucial step in ‘the technological revolution in the financial markets’.
—Dye & Durham, a global provider of cloud-based legal solutions, has initiated a review of strategic alternatives in an attempt to stabilize its finances. The review may include the sale of the company, asset sales, recapitalizations or potential mergers, the company said in a statement.
The review of strategic alternative forms part of a cooperation agreement with its second-largest investor, Plantro in an attempt to avoid a proxy fight.
Last month, Plantrosaidit was nominating three directors to the board who would push for a sale of the company, and calling for a special shareholders’ meeting to vote on the nominees.
Under the cooperation agreement Plantro has agreed to withdraw its special meeting requisition. In addition, David Danziger, will be appointed to the board and serve as chair of a newly formed special committee leading the strategic review.
—Earlier this week 21 states warned the CEOs of the US’ largest financial firms to remove what is called ‘woke investing’ programs focused on ESG goals if they want to continue doing business in their states.
The letters were sent to the CEOs of such financial institutions as Blackrock, JP Morgan, BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments, State Street and Vanguard.
The state officials asked the firms to take five actions to demonstrate their ‘commitment to a fiduciary model grounded in financial integrity, not political advocacy’.
One of the actions requires firms to abstain from ‘international political agendas’ like net-zero climate mandates or the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Directive.
In the letter, seen and reported by the New York Post, the red state signatories condemned the erosion of ‘traditional fiduciary duty’ in favor of ESG investing, or the ESG goals of financial firms.
—The shareholders of international money transfer company Wisehave voted to relocate the company’s primary listing from London to New York, as reported by The Financial Times (paywall).
Last week is was reported that Taavet Hinrikus, Wise co-founder and 5.1 percent shareholder,had launched an investor rebellion calling on shareholder to reject the proposal on the grounds that the governance changes contained within the listing proposals that would extend enhanced voting rights for shareholders with class B shares by 10 years.
Investors have now approved its relisting plan, which will also result in a 10-year extension of its dual class share structure that gives extra voting rights to its founders.
‘We’re pleased that our owners have overwhelmingly approved the proposal, giving us a strong mandate to proceed,’ said David Wells, chair of Wise.
—Proxy advisors Glass Lewis and ISS have sued Texas over a state law limiting their ability to advise shareholders on diversity, environmental and governance practices.
As reported by Reuters (paywall), state law SB 2337 was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June 2025 and comes into effect September 1.
The law impacts ‘non-financial’ advice on DE&I and ESG matters, including for votes at shareholder meetings. It requires proxy advisers to openly tell clients that the advice is ‘not being provided solely in the financial interest of the company’s shareholders,’ and to provide financial analyses supporting the advice.
In the filings, Glass Lewis and ISS said Texas’ law was unconstitutional, undermining their First Amendment right to advise clients even if the state didn’t like the advice.
—Italian investment bankMediobancahas said that it may bring forward a shareholder vote on its €6.3bn bid for Banca Generali, the Italian banking group.
The expedited voting comes as Mediobanca attempts to fend off a hostile takeover bid from Italian bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
As reported by Reuters (paywall), in January Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena made an all-share offer for Mediobanca.
Mediobanca aims to protect itself from a takeover through the acquisition of Banca Generali from Italian insurer Generali and becoming too large a target for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
Mediobanca said that is expects the regulatory process for the acquisition of Banca Generali to be completed by August 18 and aims to hold a shareholders vote on the offer on August 21 ahead of a September 8 deadline